


Uncover

by EnInkahootz



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: A quick kiss, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Brothers, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Sex, Incest, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Nudity, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Romance, Scars, Sibling Incest, Sleeping Together, Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22779202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnInkahootz/pseuds/EnInkahootz
Summary: Following Ragnarok, Thor and Loki have settled on Earth.  Having gotten used to being known for his good looks, Thor is ashamed to now be missing an eye.  He wears his eyepatch at every possible moment, even to sleep.  After he and Loki become romantically involved, Loki learns that Thor sleeps with the eyepatch on even though he would be more comfortable without it.  Loki tries to convince Thor to sleep without wearing the eyepatch.
Relationships: Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 136





	Uncover

Thor only took his eyepatch off when he showered in the morning and when he washed his face at night. In between cleanings, asleep or awake, he hid the healed-over wound from everyone, including himself. He wasn’t squeamish, but he was used to being seen as a prime physical specimen, and now he wasn’t one. Being aesthetically pleasing had long ago become a significant part of his identity, and now Thor felt that Hela had ripped an essential aspect of his very self away. Midgardian media seemed to agree, various magazines, internet articles and television programs making seemingly endless references to his change in appearance since he and Loki had settled on Earth following Ragnarok.

After the first time Thor and Loki made love, Loki invited his brother to share his bed overnight, and Thor happily accepted. When Loki went to fetch them glasses of water from the kitchen, Thor snuck to the bathroom and hurriedly washed up for the night, then put his eyepatch back on. Once Loki had returned, they drained their glasses, shared a quick kiss, and then Loki went to shower. Thor snuggled beneath the cozy covers, nude but for his eyepatch. When Loki came out from the bathroom, he looked at Thor with a questioning expression.

“What?” Thor asked.

“You look tucked in. Are you going to shower?”

“In the morning.”

“Are you going to wash up? Let me show you where the toiletries are.”

“I found them and washed up already.”

“I see. And then you put your eyepatch back on again afterwards?” Loki asked curiously as he shed his bathrobe and settled into bed beside Thor.

“Yes.”

“So, you are going to sleep with your eyepatch on?” 

“Yes,” Thor mumbled.

“For my benefit? Brother, I am not squeamish.”

“No,” Thor replied, “I always sleep with it,” he admitted reluctantly.

“Why? Does the wound require the protection?”

“No.”

“Then wouldn’t it be more comfortable to sleep without it?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Loki took Thor’s face into his hands and gently turned it until their gazes met.

“Please do not hide from me, brother,” Loki spoke softly.

Thor pulled away from his grasp.

“You do not understand, Loki.”

“Explain it to me then.”

Thor didn’t speak for a long moment, only averted Loki’s gaze.

“I am supposed to look perfect.”

“Says who?”

“Everyone. That is who I am - or was. Other than my lightning - and Mjolnir, who is gone - being physically attractive is the thing that I am known for. It is the thing I am supposed to be and the thing that I am now failing to be.”

“Brother, you are just as gorgeous as ever, but that isn’t even the point.”

“Tell me, then, what is the point?” Thor asked, wanting Loki to make everything alright but not believing that he could.

“The point is that no one aspect of yourself is the whole of yourself. Everything that has ever happened to you, every scar you have ever received, be it physical or emotional, makes you the wonderful being that you are. You should wear it all with pride.”

“Have you observed the media’s portrayal of me since we came back to Earth?”

“No, brother, I avoid such media fervently. They have much worse things to say about me, I’m certain, since my joining the Avengers was so controversial. But who cares what they say? No one gets to tell you that a single trait is all that you are, nor that any of your traits are wrong. Others may have their own perceptions of you, but that does not make what they think or say about you true. So, who cares?”

“Midgardians care. They read the magazines and the articles on the internet, with photographs of the old me next to those of the new, and they watch the television programs, hear what all the talk show hosts and comedians have to say about me, and the Midgardians - the public of the Realm we now call home - they care. They talk about what I have become.”

“So, you’re sleeping with the eyepatch because of the stupid Midgardian media?”

“No, it’s not just that.”

“Tell me, what is it?”

He looked pleadingly into Loki’s eyes, straining to hope that Loki could make everything alright after all.

“Who am I now?” Thor spoke in a small voice, “Who am I if I am not attractive?”

Loki rolled his eyes but pulled Thor near and held him close.

“Above all else you are _Thor_ ,” he picked up Thor’s hand and held it in his own as he continued, “you are fierce and devoted and loyal,” he spoke with love evident in his tone, “you are good, and you are powerful. You harness lightning because it is a part of you, and you spread kindness, because that is a part of you as well. And you are a myriad of things beyond that, an infinite number of complex qualities, like everyone is. And, though it matters least of all, you most definitely _are_ still attractive.”

“You could make me a glamour with your magic,” Thor said as the idea struck him, “you could make me look like I did before. I could look like me again.”

Loki sighed.

“Yes, I could do that, and I will if you wish. But I feel you are missing the point.”

Thor knew he was missing the point. He had rather chosen to miss it.

“Let us go to sleep,” he suggested, aiming to shut down the conversation.

“No, wait,” Loki objected.

“What?”

“Just take the eyepatch off for a few minutes then, and let me see what it conceals.”

“Why?” Thor asked with vaguely repressed horror.

“Because it is a part of you now, and I want to know all of you.”

Thor hesitated.

“Please,” Loki whispered, then squeezed Thor’s hand.

With slow-motion movements Thor reached up and removed the patch. In preparation for sleep, the bedroom was lit only with small nightstand lamps to either side of the bed, and Thor immediately turned away and hid his face in the dimness. Loki gently took Thor’s chin in hand and turned Thor’s face toward him. Thor kept the gaze of his good eye averted, terrified that if he looked at Loki’s face he would find an expression of disgust.

“Thor,” he heard Loki say, “look at me.”

With a deep breath for courage, Thor looked at Loki’s face; there was no disgust. There was, however, an interest, a curiosity.

“Does it still hurt?” Loki asked.

“No.”

“May I touch it?”

Thor jerked back instinctively. Shying away, he covered his empty eye socket.

“I’m sorry,” Loki whispered like his heart had broken.

Thor dropped his hand.

“You can touch it,” he spoke with a nod.

Loki smiled, and it was a smile of excitement and wonder that reminded Thor of their childhood, of his little brother discovering something new, so passionately curious. Loki reached out slowly. A gentle fingertip landed on the line of scarred flesh that began above the space that once held Thor’s eye. Thor thought of Hela’s weapon beginning to plunge into him - but only for an instant before another feeling began to take hold. It was a strange feeling, and Thor didn’t understand it at first because he hated his wound so deeply - but then he realized that the mysterious force that sunk gently into the marked skin was _love_.

Thor gazed searchingly at Loki’s face as Loki explored the wound; Thor was still hunting for signs of disgust, but finding none. Loki traced the line of scarred flesh to the rim of the empty expanse below it. His fingertip ran along the edge, then he swept it gingerly inside the space, softly caressing the indented curve. He finished by tracing gradually over the portion of the scar that stretched below the eye socket, then stared intently into Thor’s good eye. Loki’s expression was clear - he saw it, he felt it, and he loved it just as much as he loved any other aspect of Thor, just as he loved every single part of him.

After a few long moments, Loki lowered his hand to Thor’s cheek. He cradled the side of Thor’s face and gazed fondly at him. Thor could not find the words to speak his heart’s bliss. What Thor had thought was something ugly to be hidden, Loki had looked upon with keen eyes, and something utterly beautiful had been reflected in Loki’s unguarded expression. He had not recoiled from the sensation of his fingertip against the wound. He had explored it, and he had smiled. Thor leaned into Loki’s hand on his cheek and tried to communicate his emotion with the physical contact. Loki murmured Thor’s name.

“Maybe I will try sleeping without the eyepatch after all,” Thor finally agreed. Loki nodded, relief and pride evident on his face, and the brothers held each other close as Thor drifted into the most restful sleep he had experienced since Ragnarok.


End file.
